Some sensible observations

from Jim Hoagland of the Washington Post about the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, as well as the Jessica Lynch rescue. Hoagland points to poll results from before the war showing that, to the American public, the most compelling reason for overthrowing Saddam Hussein was the cruelty of the Iraqi regime to its own citizens. Hoagland also recalls that neither France nor Germany based its opposition to the war on doubts about whether Saddam possessed WMD. According to Hoagland, both received reports from their intelligence chiefs that were consistent with the evidence Colin Powell presented to the U.N. Hoagland believes that using the concealment methods highlighted by Powell in his U.N. presentation, Saddam succeeded in hiding his weapons.